Leaching is the process of extracting substances from a solid by dissolving them in

a liquid, either in nature or through an industrial process. In the chemical

processing industry, leaching has a variety of commercial applications,
including separationof metal from ore using acid, and sugar from beets using
hot water.
Another term for this is lixiviation, or the extraction of a soluble particle from its
constituent parts[1][not in citation given].
In a typical leaching operation, the solid mixture to be separated consists of
particles, inert insoluble carrier A and solute B. The solvent, C, is added to the
mixture to selectively dissolve B. The overflow from the stage is free of solids and
consists of only solvent C and dissolved B. The underflow consists of slurry of liquid
of similar composition in the liquid overflow and solid carrier A. In an ideal
leaching equilibrium stage, all the solute is dissolved by the solvent; none of the
carrier is dissolved. The mass ratio of the solid to liquid in the underflow is
dependent on the type of equipment used and properties of the two phases.
Leaching is the process by which inorganic, organic contaminants or radionuclides
are released from the solid phase into the water phase under the influence of
mineral dissolution, desorption, complexation processes as affected by pH, redox,
dissolved organic matter and (micro)biological activity. The process itself is
universal, as any material exposed to contact with water will leach components from
its surface or its interior depending on the porosity of the material considered.